Built in c.1789 this terrace was one of the first to be erected in the magnificent Camberwell Grove - later described by Ruskin as 'beautiful in perspective as an unprecedently long-drawn aisle'. The house soon became home to a Southwark distiller's widow and later a stockbroker. The next resident, a tea dealer, was to start the house's association with tea for nearly eighty years. It remained in the ownership of a local cheesemonger for nearly seventy years from 1893, during which time the Grove declined in prosperity. A certain variety of family life, taking the form of tightly-knit groups living together as tenants - such as at this house - became a prominent feature. The gradual gentrification of the Grove from the late 1950s started with the arrival of predominantly youthful, professional people who were attracted here by the fine - if dilapidated houses - at bargain prices. Many of these newcomers were faced with daunting restoration projects.
